Burning Angels
by Wilona Riva
Summary: I recently gained a new power to sense the emotions of others. I see them as auras. Sam thinks it's really cool; Tucker is a bit disturbed.
1. White Apple

Burning Angels

By: Wilona Riva

Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom, but Phaedra Snow and the plot bunny belong to me.

* * *

_Yup, another AU where Danny's a prince. I like them, so suck it up, quit groaning and enjoy the story. It's a little rough around the edges, but this first chapter is the original oneshot from my old account. The ghosts drinking blood thing comes from Greek Mythology, primarily a scene from the Aeneid._

* * *

**White Apple**

* * *

I recently gained a new power to sense the emotions of others. I see them as auras. Sam thinks it's really cool; Tucker is a bit disturbed. I decided to do a nightly patrol since the stupid Box Ghost had to go and wake me up at 3 am just to steal the square wicker basket off Jazz's dresser.

When I was over Amity Central Park near the large duck pond, I sensed the presence of another ghost. She was tall, wore blue jeans with a Grecian tank top and gold espadrilles. She wore no make-up, but a light pink lipstick and light blue eyeshadow, which matched her blouse. She was perhaps the most beautiful ghost I have ever met, with crimson eyes and short pale hair that reminds me of waves of corn-yellow grain. Her aura was tinted blue indicating sadness. I just hope she doesn't attack me. In her hands was a familiar white apple.

"What kind of fruit is that?" I asked, sitting down beside her on the park bench.

"This is a hecate fruit, young ghost," she said. "My name is Phaedra Snow." She wouldn't look at me, just stared intensely at the apple.

A scent of copper and sugar assailed my nostrils. My mouth started to water. "My name is Danny Phantom," I introduced myself.

She looked up at me sharply then. Gripping my had, she pushed back my bangs, exposing my emerald gaze. "It can't be!"

"What?" I asked, pushing her hand away. "Who are you?"

"You don't remember me," she said, sadly. "But I see you have some of your memories still." She handed the apple to me. "Here, eat."

I took the fruit she offered. "What kind of apple is this?"

"Hecate fruit," she replied. "Only those who water the fruit with their life blood may partake of it. This fruit produces the juice known as Yakar. The fruit is a sort of hollow flask; just bite into it to break the flesh."

"Why were you so surprised to see me?" I asked, fondling the apple.

"You look so much like your father. It was wise of the Ancients to lock him away. I just wish I could have watched you grow up," she softly responded.

"You knew my dad?" I asked, wondering how this ghost knew Jack Fenton.

"I was married to him for five years before the Ancients set me a task that took eight years to complete. That's why I gave you into the hands of the time keeper."

"Clockwork?" I shook my head furiously. "Dad never said that he was married to anyone else but Mom."

"What are you talking about?" Phaedra exclaimed, rising to her feet. "Your father, my little phantom, is Pariah Dark, the King of all Ghosts."

I shot quickly into mid-air. "You are not my mother," I told her. "And my father is not Pariah Dark. I am Danny Fenton, son of Jack and Maddie Fenton. I am a halfa."

"Not possible," she whispered in horror. "My son merged with a mortal?"

"Yes," I snapped. "In this form, I am called Phantom."

"And you claim this town as your territory," she concluded. "Ah, I understand now. Children must grow up sometime."

She smiled at me. "Here, let me," she said, taking the fruit from me and making an insicion in its side.

I moaned as the scent overwhelmed me. I pressed the hollow fruit to my lips and partook of the delicious red Yakar juice, then promptly spat it out. "It's blood!" I exclaimed.

"Of course," she answered, forcing the fruit back to my lips. "What you water it with, you partake of. Our family has been its guardians since time immemorial."

I moaned and forced myself to swallow the rest of the blood juice. My world spun and then grew dark. "Mom?" I heard myself whisper, just before I blacked out.

"Yes, my little phantom," she whispered. "Mommy's come to take you home."


	2. Silk and Gold

Burning Angels

By: Wilona Riva

Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom, but Phaedra Snow and the plot bunny belong to me.

* * *

**Silk and Gold**

* * *

When I awoke, I had a gold knife in one hand and blood trickling from my wrist, be soaked into the dark wood of the tree I lay against. "Ugh, what happened?"

"You have completed your chore, I see, Phantom," the woman in front of me says. She was beautiful and glowing a soft yellow-content. Her clothes had changed from modern garb to a Druidic priestess' robe, Roman sandals and a white hooded cloak held fast with a silver sickle moon-shaped brooch. Around her hips were a belt of keys.

"Hecate," I whispered, bowing before the ancient goddess.

She laughed. "And I thank you, my love, for remembering your vows to water my fruit. There were once many in my garden, but only this one remains. Now, we must see to new clothes for you, my prince."

My eyes darted around me looking for an exit, even as the woman I had known as Phaedra Snow aka the goddess of night, Hecate, clapped her hands and invisible hands took the golden knife from me and silently drove me toward a dark pool of water reflecting the stars of midnight. I was dunked under, scrubbed roughly from head to toe, and even once, I thought one of my invisible bathers copped a feel. I blushed; Sam would be jealous.

I was dried off and clothed in a long white robe. My hair was wild and wet in the damp chilly air, but I felt warm. My feet were soon shod in the same sandals as our goddess and my snowy hair crowned with a circlet of silver. A hooded cloak completed my ensemble-midnight noir instead of white- with the same silver sickled moon holding it in place.

"I look like something out of a medieval play," I grumbled, not daring to look up at she who called herself my mother. She took a small crystal pitcher from another servant, a visible one, and poured the amber liquid into an awaiting goblet. "Drink, my son, and return to your home."

"You're letting me go home?" It sounded fishy to me.

"You have made a home for yourself on the mortal plane," she said, smiling gently. "The drink is not poison; it will bind you to my service once more, son of Pariah Dark. Oh, I am in truth, the one who brought you into being-your mother, if you wish to call me that."

I took the cup and drank deep as she bade me, then partook once more of the hecate fruit, the dark, salty, Yakar juice flowing down my throat, giving me a strange new sense of the life within all beings. She motioned me forward and kissed me softly, licking away the blood which coated my lips. It was disgusting and erotic at the same time.

"It would not be wise for others to see the Yakar juice staining your lips, my son," she said. "Have you claimed a lover yet, my child?"

"From the mortals," I admitted. "Her name is Samantha Manson; she is one of your daughters."

"A son and a daughter of Hecate have not come together in many dark risings," she murmured. She opened a violet oval-shaped portal, through which I could see the nighttime sky and the playground we'd just left.

"My son," my dark mother whispered, noting my human attire; I'd transformed without thinking. "This does not please me. You will allow this lover of yours to find more appropriate attire for you."

I blushed. "Yes, mother."

"And Phantom," she stopped me in my tracks.

"Yes?"

"You will return here each night until the dark of the moon. The robes you were given will mark you as my son forever. All spirits will know when they see you thus."

I bowed respectfully and entered the mortal plane.

* * *

I jerked awake and rubbed my eyes. What the hell was I doing sleeping on a park bench in the middle of the night? Last thing I remembered was chasing the Box Ghost. I heard a haunting melody as I changed to ghost form and flew back home; a memory of blood, silk, gold and a goddess at the back of my mind.


	3. Gate of Dreams

Burning Angels

By: Wilona Riva

Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom, but Phaedra Snow and the plot bunny belong to me.

* * *

Author's Note: Okay, just realized that chapter 3 was written in the wrong POV. It's fixed now.

* * *

**Gate of Dreams**

* * *

"What's with the wardrobe change?" Tucker asked, as soon as I appeared. We were meeting in Sam's house, as my parents were upgrading the house's security system and I was tired of dodging goo guns every time I raided the kitchen fridge.

"Danny, it's a little early for the Renaissance fair," Sam teased, glowing a soft pink. I pecked her on the cheek, causing the glow to intensify for a moment, then fade.

"Last night, I woke up in the park. Somehow, I thought I'd fallen asleep while chasing the Box Ghost and all that stuff Sam reads to us from the Skulk and Lurk had gone to my head, but when I transformed and went to confront Ember this morning at Amity College's radio station, she stopped and stared at me. She stammered out an apology, then fled," I explained. "That was when I knew last night wasn't a dream."

"The whole story please," Sam said, folding her arms.

"And don't leave out any of the juicy bits," Tucker added, then ducked as Sam threw some popcorn at him.

I laughed, launching into the story about the ghost woman and the white apple in the park. It took the better part of an hour, but Sam mid-way through, got up and retrieved a book from a shelf in her closet. She rifled through it while I continued talking about the knife, the goddess, blood, the bath in the pool of stars, and whatever elements I could remember.

"Found it!" she exclaimed.

"Found what?" we asked her.

"Here," she said, turning the book's picture to face us. It showed a beautiful dark-haired woman in druidic garb, holding a cup in one hand and a sickle in the other. In the backdrop was a child plucking a white apple from a tree. His clothing was eerily similar to my own.

My jaw dropped. "It's almost accurate, except her hair was a pale yellow."

"Hecate is the goddess of night, witchcraft, and the dead," Sam read. "She appears only to those she claims as her children. All the spirits of the dead know her own. The phantom child of darkness is the guardian of the tree of life. He is said to be both alive and dead, the child of a ghost king sold to the ancient goddess in exchange for power. The child was given to the ancient guardian of the gates of time and no one knows what became of the child since that dark day of old."

"That's Halloween," Tucker exclaimed, shivering. "I really hate the darker aspects of the holiday."

"Where's your sense of fun?" I teased. "Even ghosts are allowed to have their fun on Halloween night. It's in the rules."

"Really?" Sam asked.

"Yeah, I sneaked a glance at the book the last time he tried to incarcerate me," I replied. "I think he's still rebuilding his office, if you can believe the gossip that generates from the Ghost Zone's grapevine these days."

Tucker and Sam chuckled at this. Walker's notorious attempts to imprison Danny were high entertainment on the social network in the ghost world.

"So, shall we get going?" Sam asked, causing us to turn to stare at her.

"Where?" Tucker asked.

"To the mall to buy Danny some new clothes. My parents give me way more than I need for an allowance." She grinned evilly. "Besides, I've been wanting to give him a makeover for years."

"In that case," Tucker said, "I'll leave you two lovebirds alone for the day."

"Tucker!" I protested, as my best friend skipped jauntingly out the door.

"Danny," Sam softly spoke in my ear. "This was Hecate's wish, remember. You are the child from the story. She has claimed you again. You yourself told me you watered the tree with your blood. You ate her food and drank her wine. If not for her, then do this for me."

"My parents are going to think I've flipped," I muttered, allowing her to drag me from the room.

"You just joined the dark side," she teased. "Have a cookie."

* * *

I glared at Sam. "I am not wearing this," I told her.

"Yes, you are," she stated. "We got those zombie and ghoul tshirts you wanted and some darker colored jeans, but this is what I want to see you in."

"Sam, I look like a cross between modern goth meets steampunk," I complained.

"I think it's cute," she told me.

I looked at myself in the mirror. My reflection showed a black sleeveless shirt with eye rivet detail underneath a long white steampunk coat with straps and antique brass fastenings. The pants were, thank the heavens, normal black jeans with a couple of chains wrapped through the loops. On my feet were black combat boots of the same type Sam wore. They were heavy. Completing the outrageous look, were the black sleeveless gloves she insisted I put on.

"Sam, I look silly in this getup."

"Okay, we'll get you a couple of vests and button-down shirts and go with the Victorian look, but we'll swap out the steampunk coat and get you that white duster instead," she said.

I groaned.

* * *

The invisible hands took the knife from my hands once I had watered the tree of life. "My son, the new clothing your lover has chosen for you suits the modern era," the goddess whispered.

I glanced down to see that I was wearing the dark jeans, sans the chains, and a white silk button down shirt with a crimson red vest, and the damned white duster. My feet were enclosed in a pair of black riveted ankle boots. I groaned again. My form shimmered and changed to the druidic robes and the silver circlet she'd given me the night before. "Please, no," I whispered as she gave me the fruit and the cup of amber liquid, but I ate and drank as before. She softly kissed my lips, taking away any traces of the Yakar juice.

"Soon, my son, you will be reborn," Hecate told me, opening the portal to the mortal plane. "Now go and return on the morrow."


	4. Hidden Night

Burning Angels

By: Wilona Riva

Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom, but Phaedra Snow and the plot bunny belong to me.

* * *

**Hidden Night**

* * *

Little did I know, but others were aware of the outward changes I was exhibiting. Some more than others suspected the truth.

I rudely woken up at 2 am by Skulker and Ember who, true to form, tied me up and gagged me with ectoplasm. _What the hell?_ I shot them an angry and confused look.

"This will only take a minute, dipstick," Ember said, turning to her boyfriend. "Look at his palms."

Skulker's eyes narrowed as I clenched my hands into a fist. Prying them loose with a bit of pressure, he spread them wide, while Ember softly traced a pattern in the palms. It tickled; I tried not to laugh, but a titter escaped. Her eyes twinkled a bit, but were dark and serious as she finished tracing the pattern.

"It is the child," Skulker confirmed. "He has the patterns of the moon's phases on his palms."

"And you thought I was lying," she said. "With his sudden wardrobe change and his slowly lack of eating, I would say he's has begun to taste Yakar juice again. The Clockwork Chronos must be informed of this."

I looked at her curiously. _What did they have to tell Clockwork about?_

"Dipstick, we will save you from her, we promise," Ember said, kissing me on the forehead.

"What she said, whelp," Skulker added. "How did Hecate manage to find the child so soon? The Clockwork Chronos ensured he would remain safely hidden until the last of the trees which bore the human blood fruit was dead."

Ember and Skulker were both glowing a mesh of colors, so I couldn't ascertain which emotions were prevailent. Ember snapped her fingers and my limbs were free. I glared at them and told them to get out.

"Going," she teased, "but we'll be back."

"Joy," I sarcastically quipped, just as my parents burst through the bedroom door.

"Dang, they're gone, Maddie," my father said, scowling at his rotten timing, I was still rubbing my sore wrists, when he grabbed one of them and turned it over. I could make out the faint outlines of the previous cuts I'd made during my nightly forays into the realm of night.

"Danny, how long have you been doing this to yourself, son?" he asked, worry lacing his voice. He was glowing blue, where the orange that had been surrounding him was fading fast.

"For three nights," I mumbled. "I couldn't sleep, so I snuck out of the house and went to the park. I met a woman there with a white apple, whose juice is human blood. I was taken into her world and ate of her food and drink. She says my soul was sold to her and stolen away and that I am the caretaker of the tree of life. I water it with my blood. I swear I don't know what is happening to me!"

"And of the ghosts who were here?" Mom asked, examining my palms. "You have some strange marks on your palms Danny. Is this some occultic ritual Sam is trying to talk you into?"

"What marks are you guys talking about?" I demanded, looking at my palms myself. I couldn't see anything. "Skulker and Ember were talking about the same thing just before you guys burst in here."

"Who are Skulker and Ember?" Dad wanted to know.

"Two of the ghosts who are always escaping from the Ghost Zone; I'm forever having to fight them and send them back," I grumbled, not noting my words. "There are times when I hate being a half-ghost."

Mom's eyes widened. "Half-ghost, but that's not possible."

"How?" Dad demanded. "Danny, this isn't something to be joking about."

"Your son is telling the truth," I turned my head to see the Clockwork Chronos appear behind me. "Daniel, I am sorry."

"Explain," I stated. By my tone of voice, he knew I meant business.

A white aura surrounded Clockwork as he used his staff to open up a viewing window into the past.


	5. Last Danger

Burning Angels

By: Wilona Riva

Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom, but Phaedra Snow and the plot bunny belong to me.

* * *

**Last Danger**

* * *

_Long ago, in ages far past, a king ruled over the whole void. His name was Pariah Dark and he craved much power. He sold those of his household to be servants to Hecate, the witch goddess of the night. In exchange, she gave him the Ring of Rage and the Crown of Fire. _

_Much time past and peace settled over the void once more. The King of all Ghosts took a daughter of the Ancients, Phaedra Snow. Both were deeply in love and soon the gentle queen became with child. When the young prince was born, he was dedicated to the Ancients; the name of Phantom was given to him. _

_Time moved on and young Phantom grew in strength and power. The King of all Ghosts once more felt the stirring of the lust for power and sold his wife and son in eternal servitude to Hecate, in exchange for the power to animate the dead. _

_Hecate killed Phaedra Snow and burned her bones in witch fire. The child she claimed as her own and fed him the juice of the Yakar trees, which bloomed in the midnight gardens of the void. In time the child's name was lost and all ghosts assumed he was the son of the dark goddess. He partook of her food and drink and lived solely on the fruit of Hecate. This was the only world the child knew for fourteen turnings._

_The Observants came and told me of the child, when the Ancients locked away Pariah Dark in judgement for his cruelty and madness. By rare chance, a natural portal opened into the copse where the child was sleeping. I managed to spirit him away and ordered the destruction of all the Yakar trees in the void realm. If the young prince could be saved, it would only be in this manner._

_I had to hide the young prince away, where Hecate could not find him. Only the mortal world was safe. I fabricated a history for him and memories to corroborate it. A young couple who studied the paranormal were in the hospital bringing forth another life into the world; the child was born dead. It was very easy to substitute the child in his place._

_Now, Daniel, you are of the same age you were when all this began. Hecate has found you and lured you to her realm. You have watered the last remaining tree of life willingly with your own life force. You have tasted the juice of the hecate fruit and have partaken of her food and drink. Soon, she will call you again._

_Daniel, you must not go!_

_Daniel!_

* * *

My form wavered and I became Phantom again, dressed in Hecate's druidic robes. I swayed for a moment, then teleported from the presence of the Time Master. The dark of the moon was in three nights and I had a task to perform.

My mother was waiting and welcomed me with open arms.


	6. Martyr My Sad Mind

Burning Angels

By: Wilona Riva

Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom, but Phaedra Snow and the plot bunny belong to me.

* * *

**Martyr My Sad Mind**

* * *

For three days I had been without food and for three days the blood of the hecate fruit sustained me. Mother took my hands and turned them over.

"The phases of the moon," she remarked. "You are my son."

I looked up at her questioningly. "They mark you as mine. They are so spelled that everyone, but you, may see them."

I nodded, though not fully understanding. She handed me the knife and smiled. "This time, I want you to cut the palms of both hands and place them both on the trunk of the tree of life. When I tell you to, then you may leave off."

"Yes, ma'am," I replied, wondering why tonight was different than all the other nights. I took the knife and slashed my palms with sharp edge.

Moments later, my core flared to full life.

I screamed.

* * *

_It is the night of the turning of the moon. We have failed to save the child from Hecate's machinations. _

_The marks of the phases of the moon are more than just some fancy invisible tatoos the boy was sporting. The boy was the sacrifice the Yakar tree needed to reproduce. It stole the innocence and life force of all its caretakers, a fate which Daniel was almost safe from, but it was too late by the time the screams echoed through our part of the realm, before abruptly dying off. _

_Daniel's soul belonged fully to Hecate now._

* * *

My eyes opened and I saw my mother leaning gently over me, checking my forehead. "What happened?"

"It woke your core," she replied. "It was too soon."

"Am I going to die?" I asked her.

"No, my son," she said. "Here, drink."

She scraped her nails over her throat, leaving a line of red to trail behind. "Drink," she commanded me again.

My mouth moved of its own accord and I felt a slight revulsion as my teeth pierced the skin. The blood sang its welcome song and I swallowed a mouthful.

"That's it, my son, feed and grow strong."

I groaned. _Just great, I'm a freaking vampire_, crossed my mind as I felt the darkness enclose around me again.

"Shhh," she murmured rubbing my back. "Drink again my son."

I wanted to scream, to run, to get the far away from this evil witch as I could, but my mouth was tightly clamped to her throat. She rubbed my throat softly, forcing me to swallow the blood.

"You belong to me," she whispered, triumphantly, brushing her lips against my own.

* * *

_Wait, there still may be a chance to save Daniel. If I recall correctly, Ember and Skulker swore an oath to the boy. I will send them back in time to a few days before and..._


	7. Until Dawn

Burning Angels

By: Wilona Riva

Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom, but Phaedra Snow and the plot bunny belong to me.

* * *

**Until Dawn**

* * *

"Why are we here again?" Skulker whispered, trying not to wake the human female, sister to his prey.

"Eyes front," Ember hissed. "We've got make sure 'ol Boxy doesn't take the wicker basket on the dipstick's sister's dresser. He won't go on patrol and meet Hecate, and he will stay safely hidden from her for another year until the last tree is dead."

"Oh."

"What are you two talking about?" a sleepy voice asked them from the direction of the bed. "Go haunt Danny's room or something."

Ember turned a knob on her guitar and softly sent a gentle sleep mist at the girl, who snuggled deeper into her blankets and started gently snoring. Walking over to the dresser, she picked up the square wicker basket on the dresser and hid it in the closet.

"Let's go," she said, "I doubt the Box Ghost is dumb enough to go rummaging in a teenage girl's closet."

* * *

Inside the closet, unaware to Ember, a blue man in coveralls was floating above the floor and grinning to himself, as the prize was thrust into his hands.

_I thought they would never leave, but, I, the Box Ghost, have been handed my prize by the very ones who sought to take it from me. Ha Ha Ha! BEWARE!_

* * *

"You hear something?"

Skulker jerked his head around in time to see something black and white briefly peek in the window at them. "He's seen us; we need to get back now."

Ember pulled off her medallion, the one that allowed them to time travel and prevented the dipstick from sensing them. Skulker followed suit.

Clockwork was not pleased. "You failed. He saw you and went to the park, seeing how all your fights usually end up there, he assumed that's where you would naturally be. He still fell into Hecate's trap."

"We'll try again," Skulker ground out. He hated failing at a task.

"No," Ember told him. "Maybe what we need to do should be done in the present. Time Master, can you send us to Hecate's world?"

"It is a risky venture, from which you may not return. I have reset the present so that your earlier time trip never occurred," he said. "You need to be aware that once you cross the threshold into the realm of night, that no other aid will come to you. You are on your own. You have until dawn to convince Daniel to return with you; if he will not come, then leave him. I will only have enough energy to call you back once."

Skulker nodded and bowed low in honor and respect for the Time Master. "If we succeed, I will take the boy under my wing and train him properly in the way of ghosts."

"And I will make sure he gets out more socially," Ember promised. "He's quite popular."

Clockwork chuckled and handed over two new medallions. "These are spelled to return you both at dawn and whoever you touch. Be careful. He has drunk the blood of Hecate and the tree has awoken his core. It is the time of the dark of the moon, when Hecate is at her full power."

A dark glowing violet portal opened before them, mist curling out from its edges.

"We will try," Ember promised again, before following Skulker through.

"That is all I ask," Clockwork answered, before it shut behind her.

* * *

The night hummed all around me as I watered the last of the saplings I'd planted earlier. There were four now, produced from the blood of my core. I pulled a hecate fruit from a pocket and pierced the soft flesh, as the Yakar juice flowed over my tongue.

"Your task is complete, my child?" my mother's soothing voice called from above me. She floated on down, her dark hair cascading about her shoulders like a living waterfall.

"Yes," I answered, seeing the darkness floating about her. Since I had fed from her, this was the only color her aura had taken. It was like she consumed all the light she touched, myself included. I incinerated the husk of the blood fruit. "All are planted and watered, as you have asked."

"Come and drink, then," she murmured, turning her enticing swan-pale neck towards me, inviting my hungry gaze to linger there for a moment. "The Clockwork Chronos won't give up until he has you back, my son. You will need your strength for the battle that is to come."

"Yes, mother," I murmured, feeling my eye teeth elongate. I approached her cautiously, cautiously took her in my arms and tilted her head to the side, giving me better access the fount of life that beckoned me. Softly, I nuzzled her neck, smelling a sweet spicy aroma that she exuded, then pierced the flesh as easily as I did the hecate fruit.

_Help me!_ I cried to the winds of the night. _Please, whoever can hear me, have mercy and kill me before I destroy my very soul._

"Hush, my little one, there is no need to fear," she whispered, pulling me away. "Until dawn and then you will be safe."

I whimpered and like a doll, allowed her to feed from me as I had from her. "Until dawn," she whispered again, lips moving against my neck as she fed.


	8. Silver Ring

Burning Angels

By: Wilona Riva

Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom, but Phaedra Snow and the plot bunny belong to me.

* * *

**Silver Ring**

* * *

Shortly before midnight, Mother led me deeper into the garden, deeper than I'd ever been allowed to travel. Before us opened up a lush courtyard containing a silver-ringed pool of deepest night. I swallowed, as she slipped a plain silver band onto my right index finger.

"You will sleep deep within my waters, my child, only rising when you are called," she whispered, stroking my hair once more.

_Help me! Someone, help me!_

"Shh!" she murmured, as my core screamed in agony again. "Step within the pool, my son. You will be safe from all once dawn is past."

I shivered, but took the first few hesitant steps to my doom. I knew if I entered those waters, I was Hecate's for all eternity.

"No!" I cried. "No! No! No!"

She drew me closer and whispered, "I am your mother, your lover, Phantom. You are the Prince of the darkest night. You have dreamed of the world of sun and sampled its pleasures and have returned to my bosom. You will sleep and fully be mine when you awake."

I trembled. "N-n-no," I stammered out, as she lowered me into the waters. She claimed my lips once more briefly before the waters closed over my head, then I knew no more.

* * *

Hecate's eyes turned feral as she felt the intrusion of two travelers in her demenses. They were not supplicants or worshippers, for they carried the stink of the Clockwork Chronos upon them. The Old Meddler would not take the child from her again.

Her skin turned dark as night and talons sprouted aboved her perfectly manicured nails. Wild crimson eyes, fangs sharp as death, and flowing crimson hair completed her demonic aspect. "Come to me, you who would dare trespass in my domains and steal my son from my grasp. I am Hecate, the Dark Witch of the Midnight Hour."

"Very impressive," the male hunter observed, as he and the female oriented themselves into her proximity. "What else can you do?"

His female companion elbowed him. "Skulker!"

The demon that guarded the pool regarded them with a sneer on her face. "He has entered the sacred pool," she told them. "You are too late."

"Don't count your chickens before they hatch, witch," the female said, summoning her guitar. "Let me introduce you to modern rock and roll, dipstick."

* * *

In my sleep, I could hear the muffled sounds of a battle rage above me. My mother, my lover, was in pain and I could not rise to aid her. Her spell bound me into the great sleep of the ages; only she could spell-sing me awake.

_Help me!_ my soul cried out to the stars above. _Deliver me!_


	9. Darkest

Burning Angels

By: Wilona Riva

Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom, but Phaedra Snow and the plot bunny belong to me.

* * *

**Darkest**

* * *

The fight dragged on into the early hours of the morning, which was fine with the ghosts, who had no need to sleep like the humans. The first rays were just starting to show when Ember lunged forward past the demon witch and plunged both hands into the silver-ringed dark pool and lifted the dipstick's silent form slightly from the water.

"Skulker!" she cried, "it's dawn! I've got him."

The demon laughed wildly as the two ghosts vanished with her son. "Oh, what you have unleashed upon the world, foolish spirits."

"You were successful," Clockwork noted as Ember and Skulker placed Phantom on the bed he'd prepared.

"He won't wake," Ember said. "We've tried everything. Even his ghost sense has vanished."

Clockwork frowned. "Hecate's world is often shrouded from my site, so I could not have foreseen this." He pulled out a small rectangular device and scanned the young half-ghost's vitals, then let out a shriek of pain.

The boy sat up with an evil smirk on his face. "Old Meddler, did you think I would release my son so easily," Hecate's voice sounded from his cold lips. She began to sing softly the spell song awakening.

"Phantom!" Clockwork cried, as a wave of darkest energy sent the three ghosts flying into the room's hardwood walls. "Fight her; only you can do this."

* * *

When I awoke, I found Clockwork, Ember and Skulker cowering in the room's farthest corners. I laughed to see that the Greatest Hunter in the Ghost Zone was upside down with his head facing backwards. "That has got to be painful," I told him, walking over and twisting his head back in the right direction.

"You have no idea, ghost child," he grumbled. "Where the hell did you learn that power?"

"What power?" I asked.

"Daniel, what is the last thing you remember?" Clockwork asked, rising shakily to his feet, Ember not far behind.

"Being forced into a dark pool of water and into the darkness of a sleeplike death," I answered.

"Did the rays of the dawn touch him?" Clockwork demanded, rounding on Ember and Skulker so fast I thought he was going to fall down. I've never seen him so angry.

"A smidgen," Ember spoke, her sultry.

"We are lost," Clockwork moaned. "Daniel must go back to Hecate for he is now of her world. If rays of the daylight should touch him, the monster inside of him will be unleashed."

"What monster?" I hissed. "What the hell is going on?"

"Sleep, child," he said, before the darkness swallowed me once more.

_Damn you, Clockwork!_

* * *

"Time Master?" a clipped Eastern European voice called from a few chambers down. "You called the Countess and I here?"

"Yes," Clockwork said, turning his attention to the man with the bushy-haired mustache who stood in the doorway. "You and Elizabeth must collect every drop of blood in your grasp. The Ghost King's son's life depends upon this. Do you understand, Vladimir?"

"Yes," the man said, looking at the young man upon the bed. "You are going to drain every last drop of blood from his body and replace it with fresh human blood."

"Only half," the Clockwork Chronos said, "the other half of his blood will be supplied with fresh ectoplasm from the world of spirits. Ember and Skulker will see to that aspect."

"I am sorry," Vlad said to the boy. "In order to live, many must die."

"Go, dragon prince," Clockwork commanded. "We have not much time before Hecate is strong enough to breach my defenses and reclaim the boy."


	10. Dawn

Burning Angels

By: Wilona Riva

Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom, but Phaedra Snow and the plot bunny belong to me.

* * *

**Dawn**

* * *

"Why don't you just take him to a hospital?" Ember asked, cocking her head to one side. "The Floating Isle has an excellent one, as does the Far Frozen if all that he needs in a simple plasma-ectoplasma transfusion."

"It doesn't work that way," Clockwork told her. "Daniel is something akin to a vampire now; he must drink the blood straight from the source. Vlad and Elizabeth have already come and gone in the last few days and Daniel has been drained nearly to the dregs."

"But it's only been a few minutes!" Ember protested. "Surely..."

"A few minutes to you," the Time Master interrupted, "but only because you and Skulker have been suspended in a tiny bubble of time. It has been days in truth, since the procedure has begun."

"Poor babypop," Ember said, looking over the portal which showed him feeding from another human. "Is he aware of what is happening to him?"

"Yes," Clockwork said, "He knows that and much more."

"What will become of the whelp?" Skulker interjected.

"The Observants have wiped Daniel's memory from the annals of history. Only to those of us in the Ghost Zone will have knowledge of him. I will take him on as my apprentice. Hopefully, Hecate will be kept at bay as a result."

"You said that the human blood needed to bond in a particular way with his ectoplasm," Skulker mused. "How will this come about if he drinks from a human like a vampire?"

"A mother's sacrifice," Clockwork replied, gesturing at the viewing portal. All eyes turned to the screen, as Clockwork turned up the audio.

_The human fell to the ground as a beautiful woman rose from the chair beside the bed. The Queen of All Ghosts sat down beside the white-haired boy with blood staining his lips. He began to cry when he saw her._

_"Mommy?"_

_"Yes, Phantom," Phaedra whispered, a wisp of her own corn-white yellow locks fell enticingly over her neck. He followed it with his eyes. "I am real this time; Hecate is not here."_

_"Hecate drank your soul," he murmured. "How can you be here?"_

_"Did not the Clockwork Chronos explain that all timelines were one in his lair?" she questioned him. "The blood of Hecate and her damnable fruit has been drained from your veins. You will always have the temptation and the longing to return to the gardens of the night as long as you live. To the humans, you never existed. You will be granted a fresh start."_

_"How?"_

_She pulled him forward and pressed his lips to her neck. The smell of her blood drove his fangs forward and he nuzzled her neck for a moment, then he heard her gasp as the shock of his bite wound its way through her spirit. She pulled him tighter again her. "Drink," she commanded._

Clockwork closed off the image. "You were permitted to know and help in these things because both of you have close ties to Daniel and will continue to have one throughout this lifetime. He will be reborn many times and in each lifetime, we will there to save him from Hecate's grasp."

"He is still in danger from Hecate then?"

"So he will be as long as she has the lien on his soul," Clockwork replied. "Both of you must rest now; the guest rooms are down the hall on the left."

* * *

**Author's Note: Not spectacular and not perfect. but nevertheless, we shall end it there. There will not be a sequel, but a new story will be coming shortly. Sorry for not updating, but I have been busy moving junk back and forth the last two weeks and will be doing it again in two more weeks. If you guys catch any errors I missed, let me know and I'll go back and correct them later tonight.**


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